ASUS RP-AC56 1200mbit extender completely not working in AP mode?

[smokinfish]

Because --- Physics!

Those older homes, they're pretty robustly constructed, eh? That's why they're still standing, and that's a plus in my book!

5GHz - no matter how many radios, is only going to go so far... best thing, whether it's the AC5300 or your older Airport Extreme - move the router to where folks work/play - and it might be using one AP/Router just for routing/WAN access, and another as a Wireless AP using ethernet/homeplug/MOCA...

Couldn't agree more, love the house. Unfortunately my main room is in the front, the game room is in the middle, the master bedroom is in the back and the pool is in the backyard. So basically I need coverage all over.

I am considering a front and back router set up. Right now I have it located in the middle with the APs in the front and back.

I wired the whole house with cat5 5+ years ago all going back to a closet in the middle of the house where the ATT UVERSE Modem is located. Old hood no FIOS, you take what you can get.

So I can position and wire up routers and APs in any room. My true desire was to have trouble free roaming. I spent the last 5 years running three airport extremes, two as access points. Then I would just change from wifi to wifi as needed. But my significant other isn't really interested in that. So all I would hear is OUR WIFI SUCKS!

 

[smokinfish]

Any updates? I've boxed mine up and plan on sending them back to Amazon tomorrow. For the same price I can run two 5300 and have tri- band coverage. I'll let you know if the roaming feature is any better.

 

[JacquesB]

Any updates? I've boxed mine up and plan on sending them back to Amazon tomorrow. For the same price I can run two 5300 and have tri- band coverage. I'll let you know if the roaming feature is any better.

Nope, no news. I'm giving ASUS their space for now. No new firmware posted either (except for an earlier unrelated minor update). Good luck.

 

[rbdan]

I just spent my day pulling Cat5e from my RT-AC5300 to my RP-AC56 to use it as a proper access point and need I say what the results were.

I sent an email to ASUS asking if they were aware of the issue and if there is an ETA. I referenced Case ID RTM20160308204006-544 in this thread. For now I put the little glowing Borg vessel back in it's box and plugged in my old Airport Extreme in bridge mode and it's working for now. I have approximately 15 days to send it back to Amazon for a full refund. Fingers crossed.

Dan

 

[Kyse]

Mine should arrive at Asus today or tomorrow. They gave me the slowest shipping possible for my RMA.

 

[rbdan]

I am reading up on using a RT-AC68U as an access point. It seems like a good solution instead of the RP-AC56. It looks like the RT-AC68U has more features and control. (MAC filtering, etc)

Anyone here have any personal experience using a RT-AC68U as an access point?
If anyone has a RT-AC5300 with a RT-AC68U as an access point, I would love to hear about it.

Thanks in advance for any info.
Dan

 

[JacquesB]

I put the little glowing Borg vessel back in its box ...

*That*'s what it reminds me of! Good call.

Fact is, its look is the main reason I'm hanging on to it for now pending resolution (I hope): most APs have unattractive antennas sticking out and have an obvious "computer gear" look, which I'd get plenty of flak for putting in the living room, whereas the RP-AC68U has a nice "objet d'art" look! Between the open cases and the returns, let's hope ASUS sees the urgent need to fix their firmware.

Jacques.

 

[Carsten Thorsen]

Same problem as you others. Also waiting for wirmware update.
Have any heard some news ?

 

[JacquesB]

No news on the firmware front. I'm planning to ping my open case for some sort of status -- I'll share whatever I hear, if anything.

Carsten, can you provide any details on your situation? Specifically, what behavior do you observe when trying to switch from router to AP? Also, what model router do you have? I've wondered about the possibility that the issue might be on the Wifi router side, whereby it refuses to grant full access to a client that's just switched away from it and trying to connect via the AP (because, at least in my case, the client is able to access the AP's web console immediately, but not the rest of the network connected to the router, including the Internet). Maybe both AP *and* router need a firmware fix (assuming they're both ASUS)?

 

[steetiehj]

We could ask the Merlin developer to take a look?

http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca/

He's firmware's are brilliant. (I'm not plugging by the way, just appreciate what he's done!)

 

[JacquesB]

We could ask the Merlin developer to take a look?

That'd be great, if he has any interest in that hardware. I'm reasonably proficient in C and tried to look at the source code posted by ASUS, but the file structure was so massive and byzantine that I couldn't find the relevant parts of the code.

Jacques.

 

[RMerlin]

I have no plan to support the RP-AC56, sorry.

Too many different devices with different architectures for me to support already, so I'm limiting device support only to high-end routers.

 

[JacquesB]

I have no plan to support the RP-AC56, sorry.

Completely understandable. Thanks for the quick reply. I do wonder however if you have an opinion or theory about the issue that's being reported in this thread: a Wifi device associated with the main Wifi router gets no network access (beyond devices connected to the AP) for several minutes (as many as 10) upon associating with the extender (configured in AP mode). Does that sound like the problem is with the AP or the router?

Jacques.

 

[RMerlin]

Could be a number of reasons (sorry, I didn't go through the past 70 messages to see what was actually debated/had been tested). Have to isolate things a bit to rule out at least some possibilities.

1) Setting a static IP on the client will determine if there's a DHCP issue or not (it's unlikely to be the cause however, unless there's more than one DHCP server on the network, which is not correct)

2) Trying to access the AP's own webui to determine if the wifi part is working correctly (or trying to ping its IP), and also to rule out DNS issues

3) Making sure the RP/AP has an IP that doesn't conflict with anyone else on the network, and is within the same subnet as the main router.

4) Could still be a bug or a compatibility issue (not having any first-hand experience with these models, I can't rule out that possibility)

I've never tested this particular device, so it could have a few unique "properties" in regard to how it works in AP/RP mode. I can't help with that, sorry.

 

[JacquesB]

4) Could still be a bug or a compatibility issue

Yeah, definitely that one, unfortunately.

Thanks again,

Jacques.

 

[steetiehj]

Could be a number of reasons (sorry, I didn't go through the past 70 messages to see what was actually debated/had been tested). Have to isolate things a bit to rule out at least some possibilities.

1) Setting a static IP on the client will determine if there's a DHCP issue or not (it's unlikely to be the cause however, unless there's more than one DHCP server on the network, which is not correct)

2) Trying to access the AP's own webui to determine if the wifi part is working correctly (or trying to ping its IP), and also to rule out DNS issues

3) Making sure the RP/AP has an IP that doesn't conflict with anyone else on the network, and is within the same subnet as the main router.

4) Could still be a bug or a compatibility issue (not having any first-hand experience with these models, I can't rule out that possibility)

I've never tested this particular device, so it could have a few unique "properties" in regard to how it works in AP/RP mode. I can't help with that, sorry.

Thanks for taking the time just to give us this, much appreciated.

 

[XUR]

Hey guys.
A swede here with same issues on the RP-AC56.
Just wanted to check if anyone here know if the latest FW fixed the issues?
Came 2 weeks ago 05/06

ASUS RP-AC56 Firmware version 3.0.0.4.378.6759

//XUR

 

[Dave Barnes]

Hey guys.
A swede here with same issues on the RP-AC56.
Just wanted to check if anyone here know if the latest FW fixed the issues?
Came 2 weeks ago 05/06

ASUS RP-AC56 Firmware version 3.0.0.4.378.6759

//XUR

Thank you for letting me know! I'm going to try upgrading the firmware on Monday! I'll let you know if it works any better. If not, I might buy another ASUS router and use it in access point mode.

 

[RunningRepairs]

Has anyone tried the RP-AC66 yet? Are they any better?

 

[RunningRepairs]

BTW - the new firmware update has NOT resolved all the issues. Tests done today:

Firmware: 3.0.0.4.378_6759-g029d0d1

2 x RPTs - works
2 x AP - does not work